Nightmare
by Windigo
Summary: A little piece of fluff with basically no plot.....my first TLW fic


  
  
Nightmare  
  
~*~  
DISCLAIMER: *sigh * As much as I wish I could, I don't own any of the characters associated with the show. They all belong to someone else (the lucky dog), except for Diana, who happens to be a creation of my very own warped mind.   
~*~  
  
"Daddy," The small voice whispered, just barely over-powering the nightly jungle sounds. The young girl tried tugging gently on the edge of the blanket but to no avail. Feeling determined she tried again.  
  
"Daddy! Wake up!" Her voice rose to a louder tone but still maintained the whisper in an effort to stir her dozing father. Normally, she would have gone to her mother, but she had had a long day yesterday and Diana didn't want to wake her up over something like this.  
  
A few more tries later, the figure finally shifted over to gaze down through partially open eyelids at his daughter.  
  
"Diana?" His voice was tired, but she could sense the worry.  
  
"I had a nightmare," She said quietly, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed by it all. But the fear and grief she had felt when she woke up was enough to drive her on. "Could I sleep with you?"  
  
John Roxton glanced over at the minimal space between him and the other sleeping form, calculating. The bed was nearly too small for the both of them combined, let alone a third party, and as bad as he felt, he knew he would have to find an alternative. Fast.  
  
All of a sudden, a light bulb clicked. "Why don't we go to your room instead to talk about it?"  
  
She nodded sullenly, staring hard at the ground so she wouldn't have to see all the shadows that the moon was casting around the room. Shadows hid all sorts of scary things that Diana wasn't willing to see at this time of night.  
  
She clung close to her father's side as they walked to her room, trying to be as quiet as possible. The last thing she needed was for her older 'cousins' (at least they were considered cousins. Since they lived in such close quarters and so far away from, she was much nearer them than she was to any of her true cousins, who happened to live in England) to know that she had gone to her parents because of some nightmare. Although one was two years older and the other a year younger, they still thought of her as brave as them. The last thing Diana wanted was for the two of them to think she needed protection.  
  
A bright light coming from her lantern caused her to squint as Diana joined her father on the chair that faced out the window.  
  
She crawled into his lap, resting her small head on his chest, and Roxton once again marvelled at the wonder of the little miracle snuggled tight in his arms. How could something so precious be a part of him, be so rooted deeply into his own soul? It was a concept formerly unknown and confusing to the hunter, but now he savoured it and wouldn't have his life any other way.  
  
"Tell me about it," Roxton said gently, gazing down into his daughter's eyes.  
  
Diana squirmed a bit-whether feeling uncomfortable about talking or staying sitting he couldn't guess-then finally broke down.  
  
"There-there was a big T-rex and he was chasing us through the jungle, but we made it back home just in time." She was starting to sniffle a bit as she continued with her story. Roxton's fatherly instincts kicked in as he held her tighter. "Bu-but the elevator wouldn't work and-and we had to hide in the bushes. But the T-rex found us and-and…"  
  
Diana didn't want to continue for fear of breaking down all over again. As much as she loved and respected her father, she didn't want him to see how much a simple nightmare had gotten to her. A trait undoubtedly inherited from her mother.  
  
Roxton hushed her as best as he could, listening to her sniffles slowly recede into temperate breathing.   
  
He wanted to reassure her, tell his daughter that it could never happen, but after living so long on the plateau, Roxton knew that anything could happen, no matter how impossible it seemed.  
  
Instead, he took another route in an effort to comfort her.   
  
"Now Diana, don't you ever worry about being attacked. Your mother and I would never let something like that come after you. And if it did, we'd make sure it wouldn't get as far as the tree house." Roxton could feel the tenseness leaving her small shoulders and felt like he should continue. "Everybody here would make sure that a T-rex wouldn't be able to get to you or your cousins. We all love you too much to do that."  
  
"Even Uncle George?"  
  
"Especially Uncle George." George Challenger had never outright showed his affection for any the children that now inhabited the tree house, but it was clearly obvious that he cared for them as deeply as the others. This was contrary to 'Uncle Arthur' who had been infatuated with them all since they had been born.  
  
They both silent for a few moments, each relishing in the other's presence while they listened to the sounds of the jungle.   
  
"Daddy?"  
  
"Mm-hm?"  
  
"Can you tell me a story?"  
  
Diana looked up to her father, silently pleading. She always loved listening to his stories; he managed to make it seem as though she were there with the rest of the explorers. Sometimes she wondered if he told better stories than Uncle Ned, but usually decided against it. Uncle Ned had a way with words that could make anything believable.   
  
"Which one do you want to hear?" Roxton asked even though he knew exactly which one she would pick.  
  
"When you first met Mommy."  
  
Grinning-he must have told this to her at least a hundred times-the hunter began as he always did, "It was a long time ago and your Uncle George Challenger was organizing an expedition to this very plateau…"  
  
~*~  
  
Marguerite shifted around under the covers, reaching one arm out to draw him closer…  
  
…only to find nothing but empty space.  
  
Confused-and a bit worried-she sat up, looking around their room for any signs that would tell her where he had gone. Roxton wasn't one to run out on her without some bit of information that would help soothe her ruffled nerves.  
  
The heiress-curiosity and worry bursting at the seams-slowly crept out of bed and into the main room, eyes searching for any sign that John had passed through. But, as far as she could tell, the room was in its usual state that bordered on the verge of neat and a total mess. Since everything was left like it had been last night, Marguerite assumed that nobody else was awake and became even more worried.  
  
Sighing in frustration, Marguerite tried to think of all the possible places that he could be inside the tree house. There was no reason for him to be in the lab, and if he was outside, she wasn't going to go out this bloody early in the morning to look for him.  
  
On one last stretch of hope, she headed down the hallway to the only other room possible…  
  
~*~  
A soft smile spread gently across her face, as Marguerite rested against the doorframe. They were fast asleep on the chair, loosely holding on to each other as the early morning sunlight slowly crept up the floor to meet them.   
  
Never had the heiress felt more serenity than when she watched her daughter with her husband. Marguerite had always doubted and turned away the healing that love brought, but now she was a full believer in it. Although there was the odd time when she missed the luxury of London, she felt more at peace here than she had when she was surrounded by civilization. For this sense, she blamed Roxton and Diana. Her only regret was she couldn't have given her family a safer and more stable place to live…  
  
"John," She whispered, resting a hand on his shoulder. "John, wake up."  
  
His eyes slowly fluttered open, confusion written on his handsome face until he spotted the dark head resting on his shoulder.  
  
Roxton looked up into Marguerite's eyes and answered the unspoken question.  
  
"Nightmare."  
  
Realization dawned on her, letting her hand briefly stroke back the hair from Diana's sleeping face.  
  
Gently, Roxton lifted the young girl into his arms and carried her over to the bed where her mother was waiting to tuck her in. She stirred a bit as Marguerite settled the covers around her, but didn't wake.  
  
Stepping back, she looked up to Roxton who slung an arm around her shoulders holding her close.  
  
"Why didn't you wake me up?" She asked quietly as they turned to leave the room.  
  
"You needed the sleep," He answered simply, guiding her down the hall and into their room. "And of all the people on this plateau, you're the last one that I would try to wake up."  
  
Marguerite narrowed her eyes playfully as they settled under the covers, curling up close to each other. She loved the feeling of having someone simply next to her, knowing that as his strong arms wrapped protectively around her waist, she wouldn't be left alone for the demons that had taunted her before. Roxton, always the protector…  
  
"Well at least you show some common sense from time to time," She murmured, her eyelids drooping ever so slightly.  
  
Roxton watched her slowly drift away into the oblivion of sleep once again, a grin lighting his face.  
  
"I married you didn't I?" He whispered, tenderly brushing back a dark lock of hair from her face before letting his own eyelids droop, knowing that his family wouldn't face any more nightmares for the time being.   
  
~*~  
THE END  
  
  



End file.
